Two Halves of a Soul
by Crystal the Demon-Touched
Summary: When Sasuke and Naruto are challenged to improve their teamwork, they get ticked and end up revealing more about their knowledge on teamwork than they let on.


Author: Crystal the Demon-Touched  
  
Title: Two Halves of a Soul  
  
Warnings: OOC characters  
  
Summary: When Sasuke and Naruto are challenged to improve their teamwork, they get ticked and end up revealing more about their knowledge on teamwork than they let on.  
  
Disclaimer: Me no own.  
  
~~~~~  
  
A soft, spring wind blew through the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The giggles of schoolchildren and the banter of conversing neighbors floated along on the breeze. To the naked eye, all was well in the little village. But somewhere, on the outskirts of the village, sat two very unhappy shinobi.  
  
Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out at his partner, Sasuke. Sasuke in return glared at the blond boy. After a few seconds of glaring contest, a torrent of insults was tossed back and forth between the two.  
  
"Dobe."  
  
"Asshole."  
  
"Baka."  
  
"Bastard."  
  
Before the insults turned into an all out death-match, their teacher, Hatake Kakashi, arrived on the scene.  
  
"Ohayo," he called cheerfully, totally unaware that WWIII was about to begin between the two rivals. They glared at him.  
  
"You're late AGAIN, sensei," Naruto whined pitifully.  
  
"Well, you see, Sakura is sick, and I had to go talk to the hokage about it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, you see, we had a mission today, but it was cancelled because are client didn't want you two to work on it." Kakashi replied sensibly. Naruto was still confused.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because they figured that since you two fight all the time, which is true, that you wouldn't be able to complete the task."  
  
Naruto whipped around to point a finger at Sasuke. "This is all your fault!" he screeched. Sasuke rolled his eyes.  
  
"You know you're proving his point, dobe," Sasuke responded, as calm as ever. Naruto gaped open-mouthed at him for a couple of seconds before sitting down on the bridge and pouting.  
  
"So then what are we going to do today?" Naruto asked dejectedly.  
  
Sasuke again rolled his eyes. "What we always do, train."  
  
Kakashi cut in before Naruto had a chance to come with another smart remark. "Actually, I have an idea for something we can do today." Naruto jumped up gleefully.  
  
"Really, what?"  
  
"Well, since you two obviously need to work on your teamwork, I was thinking we could do something that strengthened that skill."  
  
"What?" Both of the small shinobi questioned.  
  
"Well, I have this sword," he pulled it out from behind his back. It was similar to a samurai's weapon, except that it had a blade on each end and had an extra long handle. "You see, if you two can try to each keep one hand on the sword, while trying to defeat me, it may strengthen your ability to read the other's thoughts and actions and act with them."  
  
Naruto reached out to grab the sword instantly, examining it with his mouth open in a small 'o.'  
  
"It's a beautiful blade, Kakashi-sensei. Where in the world did you get it?" Naruto asked, eyes wide with amazement.  
  
"I have a friend who makes weapons, and I figured you guys were going to have to train on your teamwork sometime."  
  
Naruto and Sasuke glared at their teacher. If there was one thing they both could agree on, it was the fact that they hated it when people ragged on them about their 'lack of teamwork.'  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Fine, _sensei_, if you're so sure we're lacking teamwork why don't you hand over the weapon and we'll see what we can do to convince you." Naruto grudgingly nodded his agreement.  
  
Kakashi grinned and handed the blade over to the boys. Naruto place his right hand on the handle, while Sasuke situated his left hand directly next to it. With one last smile, Kakashi disappeared.  
  
"See you 'round," he muttered.  
  
The two shinobi smirked at each other, calmly darting off the bridge and into the surrounding woods, senses alert to any familiar chakra, ears alert for any unknown noises. No words were said between the two.  
  
Suddenly, they traced Kakashi's aura to a clearing. There he stood, poised in a relaxed position, smirking cheekily. Gently, with no detected signals, the Naruto's free left hand began to create seals, Sasuke's hand merely molding to create the other half.  
  
"Age Bushin no Justsu," with a final shout, Kakashi was surrounded by tens of Naruto and Sasuke clones. They converged on him, their training in chakra balance allowed them to hold the technique much longer than they would have been able to normally.  
  
The clones began to create random seals, meant to confuse Kakashi from the true pair. Together, they again to make seals, this time Sasuke led the hand motions.  
  
"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu," the two voices shouted, Naruto's a fraction of a second behind Sasuke's.  
  
A large wall of fire surrounded Kakashi. He didn't try to fight, too impressed he was with the boys' skills and teamwork.  
  
Suddenly, Naruto and Sasuke stepped out form the flames and into the circle of untouched land, in the center of which was Kakashi. They never looked at each other. The flames began to fade as they spoke.  
  
"You see, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto began.  
  
"We may fight, and we may bicker," Sasuke continued.  
  
"But we recognize the bonds of teamwork."  
  
"The importance of shared techniques."  
  
"The irrelavence of petty rivalries."  
  
"And we know the truths you speak when you preach about teamwork."  
  
"And we understand when people feel we should fight less over who is the best."  
  
"And we do respect each other, grudgingly." "But sink your teeth into this factoid."  
  
"We can work together."  
  
"Whether you recognized it or not."  
  
"And we sure as hell aren't going to change."  
  
"Because we like the way we are." With that, they threw down the sword at Kakashi's feet and walked away, Sasuke's arm slung casually around Naruto's shoulders.  
  
Kakashi stood for a couple of seconds, thinking about his interesting pupils. Then he laughed, he should have realized that the two would know how to work together. They were, after all, almost like two halves of a soul.  
  
~ End ~  
  
What did you think. Sorry, no shonen-ai. Well, that's a first for me. *blushes* Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and reviews are much appreciated. Tell me if you prefer the break from shonen-ai or if you like the regular stuff better. Or you could just leave a review to talk and exercise your finger. Whatever. See you around.  
  
~ Ja ~ 


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